Gibbs, Williams talk Super Bowl heroes

(Photo courtesy of Washington Redskins)

TALK OF FAME NETWORK

With the Super Bowl only a month away, Talk of Fame Network launches a four-part series on Super Bowl heroes … and the kickoff is a booming one.

Doug Williams, the author of the greatest quarter of quarterbacking in Super Bowl history on his way to becoming the first African-America quarterback to win a Super Bowl, visits to talk not only about his four second-quarter touchdown passes that destroyed Denver in 15 minutes in Super Bowl XXII, but also how he handled being asked “How long have you been a black quarterback?”

“He (questioner Butch Jones) appreciated I didn’t try to make him look like a bonehead or anything and I didn’t,” recalled Williams of being asked the most memorable question in Super Bowl hype history, “because I understood where he was coming from. He wanted to know how long the emphasis on being a black quarterback was there.”

Joining Williams is the coach of that team, three-time Super Bowl champion and Hall-of-Fame coach Joe Gibbs, who our Ron Borges believes knew how to run a strike team better than Cesar Chavez. Gibbs talks about the origin of the “counter trey,” the Redskins’ signature play in those Super Bowl years which he admits, “We took from someone else.” Gibbs reveals who and explains the feeling he had during Williams’ remarkable second quarter when it seemed every play Gibbs called worked.

“In all the years I coached I can honestly say that quarter was totally, totally different,” Gibbs recalled. “I could have shut my eyes and pointed to anything on that call sheet and it would have been eight yards. I never experienced anything like that.”

The Hall-of-Fame Guys also reveal and then debate their 2014 MVP picks, make their 2015 New Year’s predictions and discuss whether any team can stop what many feel will be an inevitable clash between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLIX. In addition, TOFN’s “Dr. Data,” Rick Gosselin, explains why wild cards really are wild when it comes to the NFL playoffs and states the Hall-of-Fame case for former Denver Broncos’ linebacker Randy Gradishar.

The weekly “Borges or Bogus” segment discusses what was behind the NFL’s decision to suspend and then not suspend Lions’ defensive end Ndamukong Suh for this weekend’s NFC wildcard showdown with Dallas, while the weekly two-minute drill has the guys making their positions clear on 20 hot topic issues of the moment.

Listen to this week’s show!

Share this:

Ron Borges

Ron Borges has covered the NFL since 1974. He is the lead sports columnist at the Boston Herald, a member of the 48-person Pro Football Hall of Fame selection committee and nine-person senior selection committee. He has been a finalist for inclusion in the writer’s wing of the Pro Football Hall of Fame seven times. His article, “Gangsta In the Huddle,’’ co-authored with Paul Solotoroff, appeared in Rolling Stone and was included in the 2014 Best American Sports Stories anthology.
Borges has regularly covered the NFL, boxing, golf, major league baseball, the NFL, NHL and five Olympics Games for the Boston Herald, Boston Globe, Oakland Tribune and other publications. He has been named Massachusetts Sportswriter of the Year four times. His work has been included in Best American Sports Stories anthology 11 times and he has been named one of America’s top 10 sports columnists by the Associated Press Sports Editors numerous times in its annual competition.

This Weeks Poll Question

About Us

Whenever a notable player reaches or nears retirement, the first questions asked is, “Is he a first-ballot Hall of Famer?”
Well, we have the answer. That’s because our weekly radio program is hosted by three long-time NFL writers: Clark Judge, Ron Borges and Rick Gosselin are three of the 48 selectors for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Here’s the hook: where other programs call their analysts “insiders,” our guys ARE insiders. Because they’re on the “inside,” these guys have access to some of the biggest names in pro football. Our two-hour show puts a Hall-of-Fame perspective on players, coaches, plays, issues and stadiums from the past, present and future.